White House: U.S. to provide $180 million for food in South Sudan

Children walk through mud in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp inside the United Nations base in Malakal July 23, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Andreea Campeanu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will provide approximately $180 million on Tuesday to help feed the people of South Sudan, the White House said, citing a risk of famine there.

"The people of South Sudan are suffering because of the inability of South Sudan’s leaders to put their people’s interests above their own," U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice said in a statement.

"President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar must immediately assume their responsibilities to the South Sudanese to prevent further needless suffering."